In an August 2 blog, Parking World reported that the City Council of the Resort Municipality of Whistler in Canada had turned over its decision to charge for parking in a garage that has always been free. This decision was made due to intense public pressure.
Two months later the smoke has cleared, and Whistler is doing what it should have done in the first place – develop a strategy, study usage, and talk to residents. But the goal is still the same. Even though the public won round one, Whistler still plans to re-implement pay parking in the garage eventually.
In fact, according to Sandra Smith, Supervisor of Bylaw Services for Whistler, all parking in the city will be pay parking – even the currently free lots for day skiers – by the time the Winter Olympics commence in Vancouver in February 2010. Whistler Blackcomb will be the Official Alpine Skiing venue for the Olympics.
What the public may not have realized, however, is that they have been paying for the garage all along.
“There is no such thing as free parking,” says Smith. “If the city is providing free parking, the people are paying for it through their taxes. It is subsidized by everyone to provide for people that want to use vehicles.”
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